Blue Line Station
Fansided

New York Rangers vs Wild: Igor Shesterkin hurt, Georgiev in goal. Join the live conversation

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the Minnesota Wild skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Wild 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the Minnesota Wild skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Wild 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 25: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the Minnesota Wild goes in on Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 25: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the Minnesota Wild goes in on Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Can the New York Rangers do the impossible and win three games in a row?  They have only had one three game winning streak this season and have been foiled the last four times they had the chance.  It will be a challenge on the road  against a revitalized Minnesota Wild team.

If the New York Rangers want to make the playoffs, they need to go on a run, something they haven’t done so far this season.  The most games in a row that they have won is three and they have done that only once.  They need a winning streak and there is no better time to do it than now.

They are going to have to do it without Igor Shesterkin who will miss his start tonight due to the ankle injury he suffered on Tuesday in Winnipeg.  Alexandar Georgiev will be in net and Coach David Quinn described Shesterkin’s situation as “day to day” meaning he could get the start tomorrow in Columbus.

Alex Stalock will be in net for the Wild, fresh off a 4-0 shutout over the Vegas Golden Knights.  The Wild were given a wake-up call by General Manager Bill Guerin who traded Jason Zucker to Pittsburgh and then followed by announcing that anyone who gives up this season will be gone.

This will be Mats Zuccarello’s second game against his former team. He was held scoreless in the first meeting this season at Madison Square Garden, a 3-2 overtime win. He is on a pace to score 21 goals and finish with 44 points.  In five full seasons with the Rangers, Zuccarello never scored fewer than 49 points in a season, but he only top the 20 goal threshold once.

Projected lineups

New  York Rangers
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 89 Buchnevich
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 17 Fast
33 Di Giuseppe – 72 Chytil – 24 Kakko
48 Lemieux – 14 McKegg – 21 Howden

76 Skjei – 8 Trouba
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
18  Staal – 77 DeAngelo

40 Georgiev
30 Lundqvist

Minnesota Wild
11 Zach Parise  – 12 Eric Staal -22 Kevin Fiala
27 Alex Galchenyuk – 19 Luke Kunin – 36 Mats Zuccarello
17 Marcus Foligno – 14 Joel Eriksson Ek – 18 Jordan Greenway
6 Ryan Donato – 9 Mikko Koivu – 38 Ryan Hartman

20 Ryan Suter – 46 Jared Spurgeon
25 Jonas Brodin – 24 Matt Dumba
21 Carson Soucy -29 Greg Pateryn

32 Alex Stalock
40 Devan Dubnyk

About the game

The game is set to start at 8pm EST.  It will be televised on the MSG Network and the radiocast is on ESPN 98.7Fm.

The live thread is open now.

Join in and talk about your Broadway Blueshirts as they go for three in a row.

Home/Analysis